Tag Archives: food

dinner

  May 16, 2013 - 8:00 am | blog
8 Comments

Sometimes I love preparing dinner, and some nights all I think is “seriously? I have to do this again?” Since my husband works evenings-dinner falls on my shoulders.
Starting two weeks ago I’ve have been taking time out each Sunday to make a weekly menu. Then I go through what we have have, and make my shopping list according to the menu.
One of my boys is super picky, so the menu idea has helped give him a heads up on what to expect. For me knowing that I have everything I need to make the meal that is already planned makes it much less of a chore on the days that I don’t feel like cooking. It’s easy to switch around days in the case that instead of craving that casserole you have your heart set on the salad planned for a few days later.
I’ve been trying to remember to post our dinners over on instagram. I actually look back through when I am in a dinner rut to help plan out some ideas.
The first dinner above on the left was something my friend Molly makes, shredded BBQ on baked potatoes. This BBQ was a prepackaged meat substitute which made it super easy. I did make the baked mac n cheeses, and homemade biscuits this night, so it wasn’t work free. But this was a Thursday which means Tom has off and those dinners are always extra special.
I also made ahead a stone fruit slaw which no body liked, and I just thought was “ok”.
The second dinner pictured is just a big chopped salad shaken with dressing and some shredded cheese, and then topped with fake chicken. Super fast!

DIY: valentines for friends

  February 4, 2013 - 7:00 am | blog
13 Comments

DIY vintage valentines for friends
vintage valentines for friends DIY
vintage valentines for friends DIY
I thought it would be fun this year to give some of my lady friends some special little boxes of chocolate for Valentines day. Of course I had to dress them up a bit, and I thought I’d share the real easy DIY with you in case you’d like to make some for co-workers, friends, or anyone you’d like to give a little something more then a card to on Valentine’s Day.
supplies
Supplies:
-Russell Stover 2oz I purchased a bunch of these little 2oz boxes of chocolate, these are the kind with just 4 pieces inside. Mine arrived in red boxes for Valentines. If you are really ambitious you could make your own chocolates and find little boxes to put them in.
-cardboard circles for the bases: I free hand cut mine from cereal boxes. These do not need to be perfect because your going to cover them up, you just want them to be about the size of your boxes.
-glue: I used a hot glue gun
-decorations: flattened cupcake wrappers, crepe paper streamer (I ruffled some of mine using a ruffler foot on my sewing machine, but you can also gather and glue down by hand) garland (I found red, and red and white garland after xmas on clearance and in thrift shops)
-vintage valentine cut out: I’ve made two pages page one and page two I had mine printed on card stock.
All you need to do for assembly is build up layers on your cardboard circle with glue. I changed each one around a bit sometimes using the garland first, some times a cupcake wrapper. Then I added a few little items to some like buttons, or little heart cupcake picks. Then just write a little note on the bottom of the box of chocolate and you are ready to give them out!
vintage valentine DIYvintage valentine DIY

**Personal use means non-commercial use of the valentines including copies and print outs for yourself, your personal crafts/scrapbooking and to give to friends. The valentines may not be used in any way whatsoever in which you charge money, collect fees, or receive any form of remuneration. The valentines may not be used in advertising, and they may not be resold.***

Vegan Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins Recipe

  October 22, 2012 - 7:00 am | blog
3 Comments


Vegan Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins
muffins:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup canned pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup soy or almond milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons molasses

cream cheese:
1 container of tofutti brand “better than cream cheese”
1/2 cup of powdered sugar

topping:
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a twelve-muffin tin.

In food processor mix cream cheese and powdered sugar, set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together walnut streusel topping, set aside.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, oil, and molasses. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix.

Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full. Use a small ice cream scoop or spoon to drop a circle of cream cheese mixture into each muffin center. Sprinkle walnut topping over each muffin top.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

How To Tuesday – Halloween Party Toothpicks

  October 10, 2012 - 1:05 pm | blog
1 Comment

craft yourself some halloween party toothpicks
I’m having a Halloween crafternoon this weekend, and I wanted to make some toothpicks for spearing finger food that would be easy to make, but still have a great spooky vibe. Even if you are not having a Halloween party this year I think these picks would be great for packed lunches, a spooky snack, or you can use the bugs as cupcake toppers.

supplies
Here is what you need to make “brooms” & “bugs”
-rafia
-long bamboo skewers
-toothpicks
-assorted plastic bugs or spider rings
-scissors
-hot glue (the red “blood” glue is optional of course I found mine on ebay)
The brooms are very easy and work up really fast! Cut some raffia about the length of your skewer. Fold in half, and insert your skewer. Then use a piece of raffia to tie it all closed. Cut the ends of your broom and you are done.

For the bugs you want to cut off the “ring” part of the spider rings (I also cut the one side of tips off of the toothpicks), add some hot glue to the back of your bug and hold the toothpick in place until glue sets up.

When your toothpicks are dry and you want to add the blood push your picks into something hard to hold them in place. Since I was using mine the same day I used an apple, but if your making them a few days in advance push them into a piece of Styrofoam or something else that will not leave a bit of juice on the tips.
Then just heat up your glue gun like normal with a red stick and add drips to the top.

Serve them on a tray with some veggies, dip, and you can even turn those little babybelle cheeses into little jack-o-lanterns with a paring knife.


**yes, this is a day late—let’s just pretend it posted yesterday ;)

September Crafternoon

  September 24, 2012 - 7:00 am | blog
3 Comments

Can you believe it is already time for another Crafternoon? I feel like the time since my last one just flew by. This month the date I picked for the crafternoon fell on the first day of fall, perfect for making felted acorns! Katie of The Mossy Cottage does indeed live in a mossy cottage in the woods and was kind enough to bring hundreds of acorn caps for the craft (psst that’s Katie’s new blog isn’t it lovely!!).

I ordered some wool roving in fall colors& grabbed a few small batts that I had stashed in the attic with my spinning supplies, but even with eight people we had more then enough wool to each make as many acorns as we wanted, and I still had quite a bit leftover.

Making the acorns is super easy, all you need is:
-wool roving in fall colors
-acorn caps
-a small bowl with just a tiny drop of dishwashing liquid and warm water
-glue
1. Just grab a very small amount of wool, dip it in the water just to dampen and begin to roll it over between your hands as if you were making a ball with clay. You don’t have to push hard or squeeze the wool. Keep going and the ball will felt and smooth out around the outside.
2. The great thing about acorn caps is they come in so many sizes that you can test your ball in different ones until you find just the perfect fit.
3. Allow your balls to dry out (they dry pretty quickly) and then glue into caps. We used either hot glue or aleene’s tacky glue and both worked great.
For food I decided to give soup a break and make some lasagna. Perfect for making a day ahead of time and then just popping into the oven to bake right before the party. I made a classic cheese lasagna (but using low fat ricotta and part skim mozzarella) and a butternut squash and sage lasagna that I have been wanted to make for months. Again I also used the lower fat/part skim cheese, almond milk in place of the heavy cream, and veggie stock in place of the chicken stock…but I think it turned out wonderfully and I would make both recipes again. I also served salad with some quick dressings Katie and I made before the party, and bread.
For dessert I went a little bit crazy, the party was the day before my birthday so I wanted it to be a extra special birthday cake. I made a Black Joe Cake with Salted Caramel Filling & Mocha Mascarpone Frosting and followed the recipe almost exactly. The only thing I did differently was make it a 3 layer cake (by dividing the batter into 3 cake pans) and I didn’t cut the circles of parchment paper for inside the pans, and I regretted that. My two bottom layers stuck and I had to sort of salvage them back into place. I ended up putting the top layer into the freezer until I could pop it out of the pan. So for goodness sake, cut the circles!! The cake was really yummy, but be careful you’ll want to sample it the whole time…a little bite of filling, a crumb or two of the stuck cake, a taste or three of the frosting. It’s really good! And I found the caramel, fleur de sel, and espresso powder all at Wegmans.

The only new thing we did this month was a White Elephant Gift Exchange, and it was so fun! I think we will try to do it every month. I asked everyone to bring a gift either thrifted or handmade between $5-10, and everyone brought such great stuff! I had found a little pyrex dish with a lid so I filled it with some candy and included a potholder. I got a handmade framed papercut by Sean with a owl he thrifted. Now I’m looking forward to next month’s Halloween themed Craftnoon, and can’t wait to sit down and plan the menu for that.